Let the Devil Wear Black : A 'Ghost Hunt' Story
by EmilyVsTheMachine
Summary: When Jodie Kerns is established to use her abilities of divination and communing with the dead in Japan, she runs across the Shibuya Psychic Research Center as they are forced to work together on cases that could potentially mean life or death. Now that Mai has gone to university and Lin is battling against his own demons, Jodie has to learn to protect those at SPRC and herself
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter 1_**

The sun set slowly with the fatigue of a day's end, sinking and slipping away from life as we all knew it here in the dazed city of Los Angeles. A dreamy haze grew around everything as the sun disappeared from view, coating the very fabric of your shirt and the soft texture of your own skin in a light dust only known to the people of this city as luck or so I've been told. It was home to us here; the gentle, unconscious grasp of awareness we had as we all sat on our apartment's balconies and drank our darker than black coffee as the sun left us in the newly found city lights that embraced us in the darkness of the night.

The night to many of us was as familiar as an old friend, the taste of a lingering draw from a cigarette, or possibly similar to nothing short of the sensation of falling back into a reclining chair after a day's work sitting behind a desk. Whatever the case may be, the night was always there to welcome us back home, no matter what we might have said or done in that day that we regret saying or doing.

This is what made this new city home to me and the thousands upon thousands of other people who called this sacred place their home. Los Angeles is the very place where you could go into a crowded place and still feel like you are all alone. But it wasn't the bitter loneliness that could made your milk curdle, but more like the tranquility one may have felt when you meet the gaze of a stranger and you feel a shock run through your body. That shock is what brought me here to the bright and shining city of angels, the jolt of electricity that seems to bind each human being to one another like coarse twine.

I took another swig of my bottled water as I scanned the illuminating sparkle of street lights and buildings from my small loft, the sound of haughty cheers and the clinking of wine glasses from the cheap bar from below swarming around me as I stuck my head out of my kitchen window to look out onto the city; the city I had grown the most attached to in my years of traveling. The years of avoiding and evading my fate was finally catching up to me; and regrettably so.

"Ay. There be a pretty lady watching us up there, fellas," A drunk, foreign-sounding man called from down below, bumping into a man next to him who looked up to me as well.

"Hey, beautiful! Care to have a beer with a couple of good looking gentlemen who-"

He had just toppled over the waitress who gave out a shriek as she was crushed under the beer belly of the man who had spoken to me. A frenzy of people came over to help the crying girl before she burst into hysterics. I just rolled my eyes. Every single one of them was the same. I lingered in the window for a moment, watching the scene unfold as the drunken man was punched by the waitress' boyfriend who was conveniently at the bar and then all hell broke loose. I retracted my head back into my almost empty apartment.

I stood in my kitchen and waited there, almost as if I was waiting for a boyfriend to come around the corner, asking me why I was in the dark and if I would like to have a glass of wine with him. Or maybe I was waiting for the over-protective parents who would come out from my bedroom and yell at me for not having cleaned up my room or not having finished my homework at such a late hour. But no one came; just the sound of my shallow breathing against my ears.

The bitter reality was still there; the reality where I was alone and I was an orphan and where I had a terrible knack of wanting to stay alone. People, no matter how much they fascinated me and no matter how badly my heart yearned for the human condition, were always going to be on the outside, away from anything to do with me and farther away from the part of me that spoke and behaved like a normal being of this earth. I was just fated to be this way, I guess. I just had to be different.

I took another swig from my water and sat down on the futon bed that was unfolded in the middle of my living room, ruffling the stacks of work papers around on the coffee table seated next to me to find the one I was looking for. I was behind on paying the bills this month and I was trying desperately to find the one for this month's heat.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts; my fleeting ideas that had been wrapped tightly around my mind had been torn to shreds and thrown back in my face in the course of a few seconds. I loathed the living almost as much as I hated mourning over the dead.

Whoever the person was better have a good reason for interrupting my thoughts. I went lazily over to the door before something was shoved underneath the space between floor and door; an envelope lightly decorated with the highly flamboyant stickers of Lilth, the local government here in what used to be the United States of America. That was a long forgotten dream that one forgets to recall just minutes after and had been taken away from them by the grasp of reality.

I sighed and grudgingly picked the envelope up. Putting the water bottle in my hand on the coffee table next to me, I ripped open the envelope and dumped its contents out onto my kitchen counter. Several documents came falling out and I ran a hand through my hair roughly, trying to examine all of them. These people needed to stop sending me things. I could only handle so much paperwork at one time.

There's the Syndicate for you; they always have to have the final word.

I bent over and picked up one of the papers off from the ground. I turned on the kitchen light to my right and saw the paper illuminated in my hands, writing decorating its surface like an elf's soft ink-laden footsteps. I gazed at the paper, lightly skimming it over its contents. My eyes had finally met the set of words I was looking for, the phrase that made my heart stop and my hands tremble with annoyance; _Notice of Reassignment. _I crinkled up the paper in my palm and threw it in the already overflowing trash basket and sat down on my futon bed, burying my head in my hands.

This would be the fourth time in the last five months I've been switched to another assignment. It wasn't my fault that the assignments the Syndicate gave me were all dead-ends with no clues whatsoever to be had. No lead-ins to show me where to go next. I was getting tired of playing this silly game, and I was pretty sure the Syndicate was as well. We, meaning those employed by the Syndicate, needed work in order to have our employer pay us for our services, and with the way things have been going for the past year, I feared that I'd have to find work elsewhere; if, of course, I didn't have a contract that bound me to the Syndicate for the next fifteen years of my life.

It was a pain, a sharp thorn in my side, but at least in the Syndicate I was protected from the others who wanted me dead and wanted my gift of divination and the ability of communing with the dead. It's my blessing and my curse. No other person in the Syndicate has what I have and that's what made me valuable, made me wanted by so many other underground businesses here in America and a numbered few across the world. I had to be protected. I was a powerful asset to have under their control, and they would hate to have me killed by some competing company. 'An awful waste', as Kirin would say.

Now I was intrigued. Mostly out of boredom, but some due out of curiosity, I picked up the crinkled paper out from the trash bin to take a good long look at my reassignment. I wanted to know what Gambol was getting me into this time and how I was to complain about it. There was nothing for me here in Los Angeles but a stack of bills that seemed to be getting bigger by the week and the never-ending gurgle of people in the bar below me. I unfolded the paper in my hands and was greeted by the formality and structured approach of the Syndicate with brash and bland words.

**Notice of Reassignment**

** -This notice is to be disposed of immediately following your conclusion upon reading this notice of reassignment. If failed to do so, this message will self-destruct. -**

** Jodie M. Kerns will report to Osaka, Japan on the date of October 24 to receive new assignments and new missions in regards to the Syndicate's survival in the future. You will find money enclosed with this letter for you to purchase an air-travel ticket. When arrived in Osaka, you will be picked up by an agent holding a sign with the name 'Hamilton'. You are to go with that person to central intelligence and receive your mission.**

** -End of message-**

That's the Syndicate for you; they don't tend to beat around the bush. I looked around for the envelope the letter came in, finally finding it among the trash bin. Looking inside there was about five hundred yen, just barely enough for the air fare to get me to Osaka.

By the looks of how much money they sent me, it looks like I wasn't going to be purchasing a return ticket.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

Early morning light cloaked everything in a fine frenzy of the day's newly reincarnated self. The sound of blinds and curtains being drawn back from the windows almost echoed throughout the city with a foreboding nature. The very nature of the morning here in the city was something you'd like to read out of an old traveling magazine or novel no one has heard about, old from constant use and neglect. To some, the day had begun long before the sun hung lazily upon the horizon. And to the straggling few, the day hadn't even begun to show its invasive, beautifying face to them. This was Osaka. Japan had finally shown its face to me.

I was one of those selected to wake before the sun decided to. The very few who pushed themselves into a situation where their emotional and physical well-being was practically shoved underneath the spinning tires of a semi-truck.

Alright, I might be a little over exaggerating.

Sleep is important to me as much as the next person. You would be upset too if you had to wake up at three in the morning on weekends. My job required me to get up at this ungodly hour and function. Actually, that's sort of a lie; I made myself get up this early because I needed the hours and the money. The Syndicate paid for practically everything. I was their star employee, after all. Whatever I asked for usually got answered, but then again I never really asked for a lot. If you count asking about having a place to stay and having enough food to survive the duration of the assignment, that was the extent of my bartering needs.

The Syndicate was located at the very heart of Osaka, almost two miles underground from the busy and bustling streets of the now ravishing, eco-centric utopia. It was placed perfectly between the sediment and the mortar that lay underneath New Osaka; twelve miles of rock and stone, man-made and naturally formed, encircled the central intelligence of the Syndicate and formed a sort of impromptu barrier from the outside world. Gambol liked the setting. 'A sort of Gothic, professional ambiance,' as he put it. Why he had to put the head of this company all the way out here was way beyond me.

I thought the whole thing was ludicrous.

My plane ride had been unusually rough on the trip over. With the money the Syndicate gave me, I only have enough for a second-hand flight, a bag of over salted peanuts, and half a bottle of water. A fresh migraine had begun seeping its way through my brain, enveloping my left eye in a blooming pain only three hours into the flight. I had used up the last of my yen on the peanuts and I forgot my pain killers at the apartment I had left behind in Los Angeles. I silently cursed to myself on the bumpy five hour flight over. I couldn't imagine a time where flights from Los Angeles to England was twelve hours. Why people would put themselves through that, I haven't the slightest idea.

I was staring at a pale, pastel-colored ceiling, thinking about nothing in particular. Maybe I was thinking about the warm, silken touch of the bed sheets beneath me or the soft cushion of the bed seemed to wash relief and relaxation over my tired body. The time change was never gracious on me, but I was happy to be somewhere familiar. I pulled the sheets up to my eyes, trying to shield myself from the light that flowed in through the white paper walls and the light that was illuminated from a light bulb hanging by a single strand in the middle of the ceiling. There was no light switch to turn it off, sadly. It was always like that; forever and always lit and awake to the harsh beating of the outside world. I didn't envy it in the slightest. The air started to grow cold, making me shiver.

"_O__hayō gozaimasu_," a woman dressed in an navy work suit stood outside of the door, opening it slowly to peek her head in. She was holding a tray with a steaming cup of tea. "You will be pleased to know that your transportation to your next mission here in Osaka will be here shortly. I brought you some tea for you to enjoy while you wait."_  
_

"Thank you very much," I said, getting up to stand and bowing before her. She looked at me, surprised that someone like me, a foreigner and an American no less, understood the etiquette proper for this country. "Also, thank you for letting me rest. The plane ride over here was absolutely awful."

"It's nothing," She waved a hand at me. "We have lots of extra rooms here. I'm surprised not more of you want to rest after such a long journey."

She set the tray onto the table next to my small duffle bag. As she set up the green tea cup upon the wooden table, she spoke to me. "I have a folder with all the information Gambol has given you for this particular mission. I must say, Ms. Kerns, you're task is a little bit extraneous."

I tilted my head to the side, confused. She handed me the thick manila folder, surprising me with its weight.

"_Arigatou gozaimasu," _I said before she promptly smiled at me and left, closing the sliding door behind her.

I sat back down on the bed and opened up the folder, taking small sips of the pipping hot tea in between scanning the papers, one after another. Most of them was about the history of the place and the grounds I was going to be going, the address of the establishment, and what type of occurrences have happened in the past six months. There were multiple pictures of the place paper-clipped to the pages inside. What concerned me were the pictures, not the information that I was given. Through these pictures I could use my divination to see. I looked at these pictures, glossy and cool underneath my fingertips.

It was a black-and-white Polaroid picture of a hospital, almost six stories high and covered with thick thriving ivy upon its brick walls. Tall, spiraling towers and Gothic archways decorated the hospital grounds. There was even a few pictures of the pool and the well-kept garden that was located behind the building. It looked familiar, somewhat giving me a nostalgic sensation that crept up my spine in a tingle of cold fingers.

I placed both of my hands across one of the pictures, a picture of a hallway with multiple nurses and patients standing, sitting, and leaning against walls. I took a deep breath, letting all the air escape my lungs before-

_"I don't want to!"_

_"Yasuki, you have to take your medicine."_

_"No! It'll make me go insane! I don't want to take them!" I spit at the nurse, the spit landing on her face. Her face contorted, anger slipping through the cracks of her pristine and pure image._

_Nurses and doctors surrounded me in an instant, taking hold onto my arms and legs, gripping them hard and tight till I couldn't feel them anymore. I tried to break free, but they were all too strong for me. I started to cry._

_"Please," I pleaded, tears staining my face. "Don't make me take them."_

_More hands and arms came up around me as I writhed in their arms, slithering around my waist and my neck, choking me._

_"W-what are you-u," The air used to speak was gone, the arm around my neck growing tighter and tighter. I started to get light headed._

_"Shhhh," The nurse I spit on shone through the people that circled around me. "It'll all be over soon. You just have to take your medicine."_

_The nurse pulled out a knife, glistening and gleaming cynically in the dimly lit hallway. My eyes grew wide and I tried to scream, but all the air in my lungs had been forced out of me. I saw her sinister smile as she lifted the knife above her head and then she-_

I let go of the old photo, crumpling it in my hand as it fell to the floor. My breath was hot and my face was warm, the heat creeping up my neck uncomfortably. I shivered and moved the folder away from me. It was a slaughter house Gambol had sent me to go investigate. I could sense from the girl's memory I just saw that she knew that her fate had happened to others and that she was frightened and afraid. It was her memory that leads me to believe that there is a possibility that she still remains there. But were they other patients? Maybe even employees that were murdered or killed?

I had to call Gambol. It wasn't like I never been on a case where there were multiple spirits and the occasional demon within the premises. I was almost excited; this was the first case I've had in a long time that actually meant business. In Los Angeles, I had been stuck on so many cases where there was just a simple poltergeist making a family complain or a spirit that was making people feel uncomfortable. I hated to say it, but I was almost glad I was put on this case. I smiled silently to myself.

I still needed to call Gambol, though. It was important that I shared this information with him as soon as possible. I needed to know if there was still people in that building, if the hospital was still functional, what they intended to do with the building if not, and what they could possibly do if the case gets dangerous.

"Jodie-san," The same woman as before showed up at the door. "You transportation has arrived. Do you need any help with your bag?"

"No, thank you." I said, picking up all the papers and shoving them back into the folder, quickly grabbing my duffle as I struggled with the papers.

We both walked out of the room and down a long hallway decorated with cheap knick knacks and art posters framed on the walls. They were trying way too hard to make this place look like it was a normal housing facility. We rounded the corner which lead to the front door, which was left wide open to present to us a black car, the engine purring away.

"Good luck, Jodie-san," The woman turned to me and bowed. I bowed back. "I hope your journey is a safe one."

I nodded at her and opened the car door, throwing my bag onto the seat next to mine and hopped in.

"I'm inclined to take you to your destination, Ms. Kerns, which will be a forty-five minute car ride, allowing that traffic isn't difficult." The driver spoke to me.

"Okay. That's wonderful. Thank you." I said.

I rolled down the window as the car started to pull away from the drive way. The woman waved at me before she disappeared, vanishing into thin air right before my very eyes. My heart skipped beat or two; she really hadn't been there, had she? I looked at the folder she had handed to me. Astral projection? Maybe even a lesser-powerful poltergeist? I looked back at the house, trying to figure out how I was supposed to help these people with a seriously concerning case if I could barely keep it straight who was alive and who was dead?


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter **_**3**

"Where the hell are we?!" I said, trying not to raise my voice at the driver, the forty-five minute drive had turned into a two-hour excursion and I wanted answers. He remained silent though out my questions, but when we finally stopped and he stepped out of the car to open the door for me, he spoke.

"The Shibuya Psychic Research Center is on the second floor of that building," the man pointed to the building behind me. "I won't go in there, but make sure you tell Mr. Shibuya that I extend my regards."

"Who?" I asked, but it was too late; he had already gotten in the car and had revved the engine, and just like that he was out of sight, down the street and off into traffic.

I sighed heavily. This is why I sometimes take comfort into communing with the dead. At least the dead had nowhere to rush off to. I know that sounds horrible, but being a girl who travels a lot by herself I tend to get lonely. With no one interested in sticking around for too long and people going away, it was hard to make friends. I shrugged it off, and started walking towards the building the man had pointed to. I climbed the stairs and I knocked on the first door that came across me. It was left ajar and pushed open at the pressure of my touch. Curious, I peaked my head inside.

"_Konnichiwa,"_ I said, my voice low. "I'm here with the Syndicate."

Nobody answered and I entered the room. The room was neatly kept, two couches and a few side tables here and there. There was a desk and some other furnishings that were scattered around the room. There was a man with sandy-brown hair sitting on one of the couches, head pushed down low into a book. I walked up to him, practically five feet away from him and he still didn't notice me.

"Excuse me?" I said, wondering if he may be a spirit, trapped in his own little world. I poked him on the shoulder and he jumped.

"Woah!" He yelled, hoping up from the couch and throwing up his arms as if he's going to perform karate on me. "How the hell did you get in here!?"

Nope, he was solid, and alive. "I'm so sorry!"

"Well, you shouldn't just barge in here! Who do you think you are?"

He was still in his fighting-stance, looking ridiculous. "My name's Jodie Kerns. I'm here in regards to the Syndicate sending me here to handle the-" I looked at the folder that had all the papers of this case in it, making sure I got the name right. "To handle the Naotaka case."

The guy let his arms relax down to his sides and he gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, _you're _the psychic? I thought you would be... Older. You're seemed to cute to be a psychic researcher."

I shrugged, giving him a small smile. "I'm flattered, Mr.-?"

"Hōshō Takigawa," He gave me a big, toothy smile. "Naru said you would be coming by today. I don't know why I was so surprised to see you in here."

"Who's Naru?"

"Oh," He looked around, scratching his head and stretching. "He's Kazuya Shibuya. Our old assistant, Mai, used to call him that before she left to go to university. Come to think of it, where is Naru? He said he'd be back in a few minutes."

"How long ago was that?"

"I don't know. Maybe an hour ago."

"What? Is that normal?"

He shook his head, not looking alarmed as he sat back down, patting the seat next to him in order to show me where to sit. I complied, cautiously, still not really knowing anything about this guy. I'd definitely have to call Gambol. He didn't say that I'd be working with other people beside Shibuya. He might be keeping other information away from me.

I sat down, and Takigawa looked at me side ways. I matched his stare. "What?"

"It's nothing," He said, looking away bashfully. "Are you from Japan? You're Japanese is perfect."

"My father was Japanese. He lived in Tokyo before he died and before I was with the Syndicate."

"I-I'm so sorry." he said.

I waved a hand at him. "No! It's no big deal! Don't worry about it!"

"Takigawa, have you-"

We looked at the door, and there stood a boy, probably around my age, dressed in a dark black suit and dark black hair to match. He looked morbid, like death.

"Hey, Naru! How's it going?"

He nodded in acknowledgment, moving past the door and going straight towards the desk adjacent from us and started typing away on a computer. He completely ignored me, absorbed in his own little world. Takigawa and I sat on the couch for a good solid minute before we both said anything.

"Naru, this is Jodie Kerns. The girl the Syndicate sent to help us with our case?" Takigawa said, breaking the silence.

He looked up at me, his eyes void of emotion, and stood up. He crossed the room and made his way towards me, extending a hand. I took it.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Kerns. Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research Center. I assume that you've already made aware of our situation."

I let go of his hand, a tingle growing where he touched my palm. "Yes, I've already seen."

"How?" Takigawa seemed clueless.

"Through divination of the pictures you sent me. I think this case is going to be an interesting one, Mr. Shibuya. And I think we have to take all precautions necessary." I told him, indirectly telling Takigawa as well. He was probably pretty important if Shibuya let him saunter around his business like this.

"I was planning on that," He said, sitting on the couch across from me and Takigawa. "I didn't know your abilities could sense things like that. You may be of some use to us after all."

"Excuse you," I said under my breath, Takigawa hearing me and he snickered. Shibuya gave me the stink eye, or maybe it was just his face permanently forced to be serious and unemotional at all times. I took the latter.

"You, Takigawa and I will be accompanied by other people that I find will be useful to our situation at this place," Shibuya said, resting his head on his hand. "You and I will have a brief meeting tomorrow morning to see exactly what you can do. Do you understand?"

I nodded.

"Good. I assume you have already found a place to stay during your visit?" He said, his voice still flat.

"No, I thought that maybe the Syndicate would already have told me where I'm staying, since I don't have much yen on me. But knowing my boss, he probably forgot about it."

"What?! How could someone forget about you in a foreign country like this? Isn't the Syndicate based in Osaka, anyways?" Takigawa fumed.

"Yes."

"You can always crash at my place if you want, Jodie," He said, a silly smile crossing his face. "Unless you want her to go home with you, Naru."

Shibuya looked at me. I could have sworn for a split-second I saw something familiar in his eyes. Before I could say anything, it was gone.

"I don't have any room. You can take her as long as you don't do anything stupid Do you comprehend what I'm trying to ask?" Shibuya said, deliberately insulting Takigawa.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Excuse me."

They both turned to me. "I would very much like to stay with this complete stranger I just happened to bump into a few minutes ago. I am very capable to handling myself, for I am a trained fighter in Judo and Tai Kwan Do. I can take care of myself."

Shibuya gave a smirk. "Very well then," He stood up, and I stood up with him to shake his hand good bye. We did so. "I'll see you ten o'clock sharp tomorrow morning to run a few tests."

I shivered, he made it sound like he was going to experiment on me. I stood my ground.

"I'll see you then."

I released his hand as he released mine and I headed for the door, Takigawa following me. This was going to be a long assignment, I could feel it in my very bones. I sighed heavily and continued to walk, the ever present feel of the solid ground beneath my aching feet.


End file.
